Bandits, it's Always Bandits!
by Adeliade
Summary: Merlin is injured in an attack and the knights all worry about their friend. Just a little story that I thought of last night. Not slash.


**Just a little story that popped into my head last night. Sorry about not updating my other story today. I've decided to move to every-other day posts so that I can do little stories like this one :)**

Bandits. It was always bandits. Every patrol, every hunting trip, _every bloody_ time with the bandits! Merlin hissed angrily when the first man jumped from behind a tree and startled the King's horse. By the time that Arthur had cut the bandit down there were a dozen more, all circling the small group of knights and the servant like a pack of hungry wolves.

Gwaine was the first one into the fray- he launched off of his horse like a madman and began wildly slashing at anything that wasn't wearing red. Percival joined the overzealous knight almost instantly. The large man probably intimidated the bandits more than anything but he still managed to cut down at least one in the time that Merlin was watching.

This wasn't a very long time, considering that the young warlock had to turn his attention to his ridiculous master who almost succeeded in getting a sword to the gut again before Merlin magicked the weapon out of the bandit's hand. Just in time for Arthur to turn around and decapitate his attacker.

In all the yelling and protecting Arthur, Merlin didn't even notice the archer now aiming an arrow at him- the only person still remaining on a horse. The arrow shot towards the unnoticing warlock, missing him by just a hair but close enough to send his bay stallion into a panicked frenzy.

Cursing his bad luck, Merlin tried to get his horse under control. And he did try, he really did, but the animal was just having none of it. Honestly the warlock couldn't blame the poor horse- it was just as much of a victim in all of this as he was- but it didn't change his annoyance at the beast when he suddenly found himself flying through the air.

Merlin hit the ground with a spectacular thud and lay there for a moment, unable to breathe. He could have sworn that something had cracked when he landed but he was too dazed to understand what. It was only when the warlock caught his breath and took in a lungful of air did he realize what had made the noise.

His side burst into pain at the breath. Merlin stifled a cry and rolled into himself, clutching at his damaged ribs in an effort for some sort of relief. He had definitely broken something.

By the time that the pain had died down to a strong ache and Merlin was able to uncurl his body the battle was almost over. Gwaine was standing in a literal ring of dead bandits, his sword and armor gleaming with crimson blood. Arthur and Leon had somehow joined forced and were cutting down the last of their attackers while Percival was helping Elyan up. The dark-skinned knight had a cut running down his arm that was bleeding openly.

Sighing, then instantly regretting it, Merlin clutched at his ribcage and forced himself into a crouching position. He was grateful for the small battle that was still going on because it took the eyes off of him. To be honest the injury was pretty embarrassing. Getting hit with the arrow, he could take but being thrown from a horse that was practically standing still was another thing.

With a great, pained grunt the young warlock righted himself and pulled his hand away from his side in an effort to look normal- not that anyone was watching.

Arthur had just sliced through the last standing bandit and everyone else had gone to help Elyan who was waving them off with annoyance.

"Merlin!" Gwaine called. The gruff knight was examining Elyan's arm carefully, pulling back the remaining chainmail and protective coat that had been ripped open. His dark eyebrows were knitted together in concern that seemed so foreign on his normally carefree, smiling face. Merlin couldn't help but smile at the raw emotion emanating from the drunkard. For as rough and carefree Gwaine was, he was also fiercely loyal and extremely protective of his friends.

"It's just a flesh wound!" Elyan protested, trying to pull his arm into his chest and away from the critical eyes of the knights.

"I'll be the judge of that." Merlin said in an effort to sound carefree but speaking hurt his ribs even more and his voice sounded forced and pained.

Arthur had walked over to the group of knights gathered around the injured Elyan. He looked up Merlin suspiciously. "Are _you_ alright?" He said using his "I'm not concerned for you, I'm just doing my job and asking" voice that he used whenever he didn't want Merlin to know that he actually cared.

The young warlock smiled and tried to look confused, hoping that the pain he felt wasn't leaking into his expression. "Of course. Why?"

The king narrowed his eyes. "I saw you fall from your horse. It looked like a pretty bad tumble."

Merlin shrugged. He had tracked down the wayward animal that had calmed down a few trees away. Even though Merlin wasn't a full-fledged physician his years of working his Gaius had drilled a few things into his head, like to always carry a miniature medical kit with him even if it was just for a short patrol. He grabbed the small satchel and walked over to the knights who were still gathered around Elyan, not trusting himself to run just yet.

It took everything that the young warlock had not to grimace or cry out when he knelt down to examine the knights wound. It was a long scratch that was bleeding openly but it only appeared to be a few layers of skin deep. Merlin guessed that the chainmail took the bulk of the blow.

"I'll need some fresh water to clean it with." Merlin said in his best "Gaius" voice. Instantly there was a water skin at his side. The warlock was about to grab it when he noticed the eyes of all the knights watching him worriedly.

"All of you clear out of here for now. I need space to work." No one questioned the command or the fact that it technically came from a servant. They all knew that Merlin was practically a physician now and knew what he was talking about.

It took less than half an hour to get Elyan's wound cleaned, treated and bandaged. As Merlin had suspected it wasn't that bad and wouldn't need much time to heal.

"It won't even leave a scar!" He said brightly, patting the white bandages now wrapped around the knight's arm that stood out in contrast to his dark skin.

Elyan held up his injured arm slightly and grinned. "Thanks mate."

Merlin shrugged but couldn't hold back a smile. "Just doing my job. Do you need something for the pain?" He held up a small glass vial filled with a dark green liquid.

"Er… no. I'm good. It doesn't hurt to bad either way." Elyan eyed the potion warily, well aware of the taste associated with the medicine.

Leon appeared behind the younger knight's back. "Can you ride?"

Elyan flexed his hand and winced a bit but smiled at the apparent mildness of the pain. "Yeah I'll be fine. We should probably be getting back."

Merlin groaned internally. He had almost forgotten about the pain while he was treating Elyan's wound but now that his hands were idle it was coming back to him worse than ever. It took everything that the young warlock had not to pass out when he finally got himself into the saddle.

The ride back was slow- Elyan insisted that his wound didn't hurt but Arthur ordered that no one was to ride at more than a slow trot just to be safe. Merlin was grateful for that considering that he probably wouldn't have been able to bear anything faster and riding slower than the others would definitely give him away.

His ribs were starting to worry him a bit, though. Each breath came more painfully than the last and he suddenly found himself only able to take in shallow draws of air each time. Merlin hoped that the ride hadn't jostled his rib too much that he punctured a lung or something.

"Halt!" Leon's voice rang out over the relatively-quiet group. Merlin stopped his horse and squeezed his eyes shut, lifting his head slightly to the sky as he did so. This couldn't be happening- there couldn't be _more_ bandits!

But there were no sounds of battle or war cries in the next few moments. Confused, the young warlock opened his eyes to see everyone staring at him.

"Merlin. Why are you holding your side?" Leon asked suspiciously.

Merlin looked down and let go of his grip on his ribs- he hadn't even realized he'd been doing it.

"Er… had a stitch in my side." He said, trying to sound innocent. Leon narrowed his eyes.

"Life your arms over your head."

"What?" Merlin said a little panicked now.

"You heard me, lift your arms over your head." Leon repeated.

"This is ridiculous! I'm fine and we're wasting time we could be halfway-"

"Merlin." Arthur said in his best king voice, "If you don't want to be thrown in the stocks for a week then do as Sir Leon says."

Grumbling the young warlock dropped his reins dramatically and starting to lift his arms, staring daggers at Arthur and Leon. He only got to where his elbows were just above his shoulders when a sharp pain in his side made Merlin drop his arms and clutch at his ribs once more, defeat on his face.

"I thought so. I saw that fall as well and I knew that there was no way you could come out of it uninjured." Leon said fretfully as he dismounted his horse. The older knight made his way over to where Merlin was still slightly hunched over in pain. He held out a gloved hand to help the warlock down from his horse.

Okay, fine- he had been caught. But Merlin was going to be damned if he was helped off his horse like a lady or something. Clenching his teeth the warlock slid off of his saddle on his own and even managed to not cry out in pain when his arms went up over his head in the process.

Unfortunately the pain was a little more than he had expected and as soon as his feet hit the ground Merlin had to lean against his horse to balance himself as white sparks danced along his field of vision.

"Ugh." He groaned before he could catch himself. Instantly there were at least four people crowded around the disoriented warlock, helping steady him, leading him to a spot where they could sit or simply hovering about, unsure of what to do.

When Merlin finally found himself sitting down, his back pressed lightly to the thick trunk of a tree, someone started pulling up his worn red tunic.

There was a hiss of anger and a few concerned mumbles from the group. The young warlock looked down at his exposed torso to see what all the fuss was about. Surely just from a fall the damage couldn't be that ba-

His thoughts stopped instantly when Merlin spotted the red and purple bruise covering a good portion of his abdomen. There was a strange bulge in his side that looked suspiciously like a rib threatening to poke through the splotchy skin.

"Oh." Was all that Merlin could say. In all honesty he hadn't thought that it would be that bad.

"Oh!?" Arthur roared, grabbing Merlin by his neckerchief. "OH? You could have died Merlin and all that you can say is 'oh'!?" The last word was said in a much higher, mocking voice.

"Sire that's not helping his wounds." Leon was gently poking at the bruising to assess that damage better. Merlin winced with every touch, no matter how light. Arthur let go of the neckerchief but stormed away, obviously still angry. He was shouting at anyone that would listen. He shouted at Percival and Gwaine to make camp, Elyan not to stress his arm any further. He even shouted at his horse, though Merlin couldn't be sure what for.

"Here- drink this. This next bit will be… unpleasant." Leon was holding out a vial of painkiller for Merlin to take.

"I should be awake. I'm technically the physician's apprentice." Merlin said as he took the medicine but made no move to ingest it.

Leon raised a skeptical eyebrow and Merlin let out a little, indignant laugh- though an instant later he wished he hadn't as the extra movement to his ribcage hurt fiercely.

"You think I've never had a broken rib before?" It was obvious from the look on the knight's face that he didn't. The warlock just shook his head with amusement.

"I have and I know what's to come- but I also know that if you do it incorrectly the bone will set wrong, or you'll put too much pressure and I'll puncture a lung and die." Merlin said flatly. Ribs were indeed a tricky thing to bind. He wished that Gaius was with them but it seemed that Leon would have to do.

"I'll try my best not to do either of those things then." Leon tried to sound confident but it seemed that Merlin's little speech had shaken him a bit. The knight had seen his fair share of like injuries, Merlin was sure, on the battlefield and he always seemed to have a knack for first aid.

The actual binding of his ribs was more horrible than Merlin remembered. He could barely keep his arms lifted long enough for Leon to wrap the bandages around his torso and had to refrain from instructing the knight halfway through due to the scream that was clawing at his throat. By the end of it both Leon and Merlin were sweating and panting from the effort.

The others had gathered around a few times to oversee the process. Arthur just sulked by the campfire with Percival- though the latter would glance over every once in a while to make sure that Merlin was still alright. Gwaine, on the other hand, paced before the warlock, loudly recounting some of his bar tales in an effort to calm himself down. At some point Elyan made his way over and just sat quietly by the injured servant's side. When at last Leon instructed that Merlin could put his arms down, the dark-skinned knight pressed a vial to the warlock's lips.

Merlin assumed that it was for the pain but he couldn't actually tell- or to be honest, care at this point. He gratefully drank down the horrible liquid and closed his eyes, leaning back heavily on the tree behind him while someone tugged his tunic over the newly placed bandages.

"Sir Gwaine!" Leon finally snapped at the ranting knight. "Will you please shut-up?"

Gwaine flashed the older knight a look of fake hurt before turning his attention to Merlin.

"How are you feeling mate?" Merlin opened a tired eye and smiled.

"Never better." He said weakly, already beginning to feel the effects of the potion. The pain in his side had gone from a harsh stabbing sensation to an ache.

"Good then," Arthur approached the group with Percival, "You can polish my armor then. It could do with a good scrub."

Merlin scowled at the king. "In that case then I'm dying."

Even though the warlock had been joking, Gwaine paced forward with sincere alarm. The frantic knight crouched down next to his Merlin and held his hands up over the warlock's body, like he wanted to touch him but didn't exactly know what to do.

The servant didn't say anything but laughed lightly at the knight's antics. Good old Gwaine. The potion was really beginning to take effect and Merlin closed his eyes once more. He was just about to slip into unconsciousness when something warm spread over his body. Opening a sleepy eye just a crack, the warlock could see a block of red covering his body and Arthur's worried face inches from his own.

If he hadn't slipped into oblivion the very next second he would have said "you do care."

It was morning when Merlin woke next. At first he thought that maybe the chirping of the birds or bright sunlight was what had roused him but a pained groan said differently. At once there was someone at his side, chattering away.

"Ugh. Go away Gwaine." Merlin tried to wave the knight away but the act of lifting his arm caused a ripple of pain to spread through his torso. "Augh!"

"Merlin!" There was a panicked cry from somewhere close by followed by the sound of something dropping to the ground.

"Go away." Merlin squinted in the early-morning light and saw that Arthur was now directly in front of him. "I told you I'm dying."

At his side, Gwaine let out a relieved laugh. "No such luck my friend."

"Guh." Merlin wanted to go back to sleep. He wanted to sleep forever. "I'm going back to sleep. Wake me when I'm dead."

Pain always made Merlin grumpy.

"_Mer_lin we have to get back to Camelot." There was no concern for the servant's wellbeing in Arthur's voice when he spoke. Merlin cracked opened a tired eye and groaned.

"Fine." He hissed, pushing down the cloak that Arthur had laid over him. At least Merlin assumed that it had been Arthur, considering that the king was now the only one not wearing the red cape of Camelot on his shoulders.

Standing up took a bit of maneuvering awkwardly and bracing himself against the tree but finally the young warlock had managed to push himself into an upright position. Gwaine stood readily at his side, ready to catch the servant if he fell. Merlin silently thanked the knight's attentiveness but scowled none-the-less, mostly at Arthur, who had been watching Merlin struggle with a slightly amused grin.

When Merlin finally got his bearing and looked around what remained of their makeshift campsite he was surprised to see that everyone was still there. Leon was sitting by the dying fire, staring over at the warlock with concern. Percival and Elyan were watching from the horses while they packed their bedrolls.

Merlin felt his cheeks get red from all the attention.

"Come on then mate, we'll get you to Gaius and one of his lovely sleeping potions and _then_ you can sleep till your dead." Gwaine said with a slight laugh. Merlin couldn't help but let a grin spread over his face, though he shook his head to hide it.

Before turning to the horses with dread at the inevitable ride that was coming Merlin spotted the red cape lying on the ground. Without thinking, the servant bent to pick it up, regretting his action an instant later when his side felt like it had burst into flames. The fabric slipped through his fingers when the pain hit and it fell back to the ground, just out of Merlin's reach.

"_Mer_lin. You're not supposed to stress yourself like that." Arthur sighed, reaching down to pick up his cape easily.

Through the pain, Merlin managed a cheeky smile. "I… never thought… you cared!"

The king rolled his eyes dramatically. "Merlin."

"Yes sire?"

"Shut-up and get on the horse."


End file.
